Chasing a Suspect
by LN8866
Summary: Ziva and Tony chase a suspect into a house.


DISCLAIMER...I own nothing of NCIS!

A/N...I wrote this VERY late at night-sorry if it sucks or doesn't make sense, but thought I might throw in a little Halloween fun :) Might be out of character. Enjoy...I had fun writing this!

Tony parked their car and they pulled out their weapons. They had chased their suspect, T-Bone, to this abandoned house. Seeing him run into the house, they knew they would have to bring him out.

Ziva walked around the perimeter, looking for a backdoor but found none. She came back to Tony who stood outside the entry way with his gun drawn.

Before they entered into the house, Tony whispered to Ziva. "Zee, be careful in here. As these houses decay the floors become unstable. Watch out on the stairs too."

"I have been in abandoned houses before Tony, I am aware of the dangers. Let's go in. We'll split up so we can find him faster."

Ziva was going to enter the house when Tony grabbed her arm, pulling her back. He looked her right in the face. "I am the Senior Field Agent so listen to me, you do not leave my side. There will be no splitting rooms or floors. We will enter each room as a duo. Do you understand?"

Ziva nodded her head. She was going argue but she could see in Tony's face that he was clearly on edge. Usually he would remind her of his status as Senior Agent when he wanted to drive, have the last slice of pizza or get her to do paperwork for him. She would relent and let him drive or eat pizza but it never did work on getting her to do paperwork. It had been a long time since he talked to her in such a low and intense tone, that she knew he had his reasons and would have to trust him.

As they walked into the house, Ziva was taken back by how much colder the house was inside than the temperature outside. It felt like January in the house when in reality it was only October. The windows were all boarded up, so the only light was from their flashlights, which showed Ziva peeling paint, dusty furniture, discarded clothes and toys. There were cobwebs everywhere. Inside the kitchen, Tony gagged from the stench. Ziva looked away when she realized the smell was coming from several decaying animals.

"The downstairs is cleared Tony. We haven't heard him come down the stairs, so he must be still up there."

"I know. Stay close, step carefully. Do not step on the same step I'm on so the weight doesn't cause the stair to break. Let's go."

Tony stepped on the first step but stopped. He paused. "T-Bone! We are agents with NCIS. We know you are in here, we suggest that you come down right now. If you come down right now, we'll put in a good word and forget about the little chase we just had. I'm counting to ten and then we are coming up."

"What are you doing? He's not a child! Let's go up there and get him."

Tony started counting.

"1 (Ziva there is something about this house)  
>2 (I don't know what it is, but I don't like it)<br>3 (So I figure if we forget...)  
>4 (about the chase we just had)<br>5 (that might entice him to come down.)  
>6 (Thus, eliminating our needing...)<br>7 (to go upstairs)  
>8, 9, 10. Last chance to come down." The suspect never came down. Tony pounded his fist against the wall.<p>

"Tony, you are being a baby. I think we have seen one too many horror movies this month and it's finally getting the best of you. Please, let's just go up there and get T-Bone so we can all go to the office where it must be 100 degrees warmer than in here. I will go first if you want."

Tony looked at Ziva and sighed. "Let's go, but stay close when we get up to the second floor."

Once up on the second floor, they went room by room again. Tony was relieved to find this floor had more light coming into it, thanks to the unblocked windows. They found beds that were made, pictures on the dressers, clothes in the closet, and soaps in the bathroom. Tony saw a Duran Duran poster on the ground in the hallway, so he figured the last time anyone was living in the house was in the 1980's. There was plenty of dust and peeling paint.

As they were clearing the last room, Ziva saw a figure run past from the first bedroom they cleared into the room directly across the hall. She raised her gun and pointed to the room the person ran into. Tony went first towards the room.

"NCIS!" He yelled as he stormed into the room. No one was there.

Ziva was in shock. "Tony, I saw someone run from that room across the hall, into this room."

"Now who has seen too many horror movies. I think your eyes are playing tricks on you. We have to clear the attic and then we can go. There's no one here though. I don't know how we are going to explain this one to Gibbs."

As soon as Tony finished his sentence, the door to the bedroom they were in slammed shut. Tony stood up straight, Ziva gasped. It wasn't a windy day.

"Let's just get this done and get out of here." Ziva said as she walked towards the door. She reached for the door handle, but stopped.

"Ziva, open the door. Its an old house and maybe it became windy since we came in here."

"Shut up! I saw someone walk past the door. When they walk past they block the light. They keep pacing, but I do not hear any footsteps."

Tony stood next to Ziva, in front of the door. He grabbed Ziva's hand and whispered "On my signal, open the door fast and I am going into the hall."

Tony and Ziva watched the bottom of the door frame. Tony was counting off the seconds it took the light to be blocked out. When he finally timed it to what he thought was perfect, he gave Ziva a nod and she swung the door open. Tony jumped out into the hallway.

"What the hell? Ziva, there is no one here!" Ziva stuck her head out. "I timed it so they would have been trapped at the end of the hallway. This is insanity. We are being played with and...I DON'T LIKE IT" Tony shouted loudly. "Let's just go in the attic and get T-Bone and get out of here. I bet you he was walking around without shoes on."

"Then how do you know he didn't go downstairs?"

"The stairs would have creaked. Come my 'fraidy-ninja, we need to look up there or else Gibbs will fire us all both and McGoo will become Senior Field Agent and Gibbs will need to get two new agents and we ALL know how it worked out last time he had new agents on the team."

As Tony rambled, Ziva heard movement above her head. Tony heard it too after he was quiet. "We are coming for you T-Bone!" He shouted.

They climbed the stairs into the attic. Their flashlights revealed more forgotten furniture, boxes and trunks. Tony also found their suspect hiding in the corner. "T-Bone, come out. We got you, game over. This isn't going to look good when we..."

"Anthony, I need you." Ziva said in a small, soft voice. She did not call him Anthony often, but when she did he knew it was serious. It was mostly when he stayed with her after she came back from Somalia and had nightmares.

He turned his flashlight on her, to see her pale face had tears coming down them. "Ziva, what's wrong."

"Something is grabbing my arms and digging its nails into me. It's like ice cold knives..."

"But at the same time they burn. Why do you think I was hiding up here? The same thing chased me though the house and was grabbing at me. I am looking forward to jail now." T-Bone said.

Tony grabbed Ziva and pulled her forward. He didn't know what he was doing or why. All he knew was he had to pull her from that space. She screamed as pulled her, feeling her arms being cut more. Tony quickly cuffed their suspect and then used the flashlight to look at her arms. On both arms were five gashes that were bleeding, looking like someone had been indeed holding her arms. Tony took the flashlight and walked around the attic looking for another suspect.

"There has to be someone else here. Those were caused by fingers nails. Who was with you T-Bone? T-Bone?" Tony looked around the attic. "Ziva, where the hell is T-Bone? I thought you would have stopped him if he ran off."

"He ran Tony. I want to run too, but I'm afraid."

"Zee, don't be afraid. There is someone else here."

Ziva closed her eyes tight. "If someone else is here, then they are behind me. I feel them breathing on me."

Tony flashlight illuminated the space behind Ziva. She saw his eyes widen has he yelled "RUN!"

Ziva bolted down the attic stairs with Tony behind her. As they were running through the hallway, loud banging and scratching could be heard all around them. Finally reaching the front door, they ran outside and found their suspect crouched on the ground, hiding his head.

"What the hell was that? I am Mossad and NCIS trained and I have NEVER been in a place like this." Ziva screamed.

Tony shook his head as he put their suspect in the car. "I don't know. We got the suspect, lets get out of here."

They rode in silence back to the office. Tony was handling the suspect, while Ziva had Duck look at the cuts on her arms. About two in the morning, they finished their reports and handed them to Gibbs. He quickly scanned them but put the reports down. He stopped the two agents, who were packing up for the night.

"Do you know where you guys were?" Gibbs asked.

"Gibbs, its all in the report. We chased the suspect to that address. Does Tony not agree with the address I have in my report?"

Tony walked up to Gibbs' desk. "Boss, the address is right. It was on the front of the house."

"I'm not doubting your reports. They look to be acurate. According to Abby, the house has a history of hauntings. I don't really believe in it. Sometimes our minds play tricks on ourselves, especially after a month of nothing but horror movies when you aren't working. Forget about it and go home guys. Might be better if one of you sleeps at the other's place tonight, so your mind doesn't get the best of you. Just be on time tomorrow."

Tony and Ziva got into the elevator. She stood close to him. He took his hand in hers and gave it a kiss.

She turned to him and said "Thank you for keeping me safe. I certainly was a 'fraidy-ninja' as you said."

As the doors to the elevator opened he smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "Ziva, I once told you I'd do anything to keep you safe and I meant it." As they walked to his car he added "I want to do two things when we get to your place. Cross off my bucket list 'visit a haunted house' and get some sleep."

"Who said you were getting sleep tonight?" Ziva said with a wink as they drove off.


End file.
